Foresight
by ScottyBotty
Summary: A new arrival at Beacon brings along his dark past, will this spell trouble for the students of Beacon, or will his demons set them free? (Obvious OC. Canon from volume one.)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Remnants**

**A/N This is my first ever soiree into the art of fan fiction. It will mainly be focused on a new character and team RWBY with hints of JNPR and CRDL. I will say this though, it will take some time to get going, I tend to spend a lot of time on the descriptive side of things, but when it gets going the going gets good :)**

**As always this is my first story so a review and some constructive criticism would be appreciated.**

**But for now enjoy :)**

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The moon shone brightly in the dark and cloudless sky. A cool, crisp breeze blew through the trees and brushed against a lone figure's skin as he stood and stared at the broken orb that hung like a shattered pendant in the sky. He reflected on the events the orb would have bore witness to.

The world before man, dark, cruel, yet he imagined beautiful landscapes, untouched by the constructions of man. The creatures of Grimm were free, unabated in their actions. Terrifying, yet magnificent.

Man's birth into this world, their brief existence threatened by the darkness surrounding them, their light all but extinguished if it hadn't been for man's resourcefulness, strength and courage. With a natural resource they were able to wield nature's elements in their hands. Fire, ice and lightning, with it they forged a light amidst the darkness.

This element was aptly named, Dust.

From this newly forged light man created Civilisation, technology, war, peace but most importantly, life. The world of Remnant lit bright by the expansive nations and cities that man forged in the darkness' absence.

However, light cannot shine without shadows, and amongst shadows lurked the most dangerous and heartless creatures to ever grace the planet's many continents.

One such continent was Vytal, which held the kingdom of Vale, and it was here amongst the trees of Forever Fall that the lone stranger stood. He was perched on a branch, high in the trees. He continued to stare at the orb. Contemplating the history of all the moons light touched. However the sound of cracking twigs snapped him back to reality, his prey was here.

The figure crouched low on the branch and watched his prey draw closer; his target was an Ursa Major. The creature was on all fours sniffing the ground and slowly advancing toward the lone figure's position. The Ursa was a large bear-like creature with black fur and bony spikes protruding from its back and arms as well as bone like armour covering most of its body, its face was also covered with a white bone like mask that was covered in red detailing. Even amongst the darkness the lone figure could see the bright red glow of the Ursa's eyes.

'_Just a few more steps.' _the lone figure thought. He peered down at the ground below him; he could barely make out the faint glow of a stasis glyph marking the floor. The Ursa continued to advance, and the figure prepared to strike. Standing tall on the branch, he reached behind his back and unsheathed two large, slightly curved blades.

The Ursa drew closer and the figure switched his grip on his weapons, now he held the grips with the blades pointing towards the ground. This slight movement alerted the Ursa to his presence in the trees, but it was too late. The Ursa rose to its two hind legs and roared as it simultaneously took an extra couple of steps forward. The figure smiled knowingly as the Ursa took one last step with its right leg, and a bright blue flash illuminated the night sky as the stasis glyph was triggered. The Ursa continued to roar but other than that it was completely paralysed; seizing his moment the figure took one step forward and let gravity lead him to his prey.

He landed on the Ursa with a thud as his two blades sank deep into its shoulders, the Ursa let out a howling scream of agony but the stasis glyph held him in place. Adjusting his position the figure got a foothold by using the protruding spikes from the Ursa's body. He removed his blades from the Ursa's shoulders, crossed his blades like a pair of scissors and placed them either side of the Ursa's neck. With the deftest of movements he 'closed' the scissors, the howling came to a sudden halt as the blades cut effortlessly though the creatures neck and its head rolled off backwards. The figure sprung backwards off of the Ursa and landed with all the poise and noise of a cat, just as the stasis glyph was beginning to give way.

Turning away, the figure began to leave the forest and headed back to civilization. He heard the unmistakable sound of the creature's body slumping to the ground just as a barely audible noise came from his arm. Sheathing his weapons on his back he rolled up his sleeve and his scroll opened upwards to display a new message:

_Mr Cross_

_A small reminder, the assembly begins at 10:00 AM. _

_A room is still available for you here, should you require it._

_We look forward to seeing you soon._

_Miss Glynda Goodwitch_

The figure stared at the message,

"Humph, this is the third message today. Guess they really don't want me to be late." He spoke softly to the wind. He looked at the time displayed on his scroll, 11:34 PM. "A message at this time? How do they know I haven't found somewhere else to sleep?" He pondered for a moment; it was rare for people like him to pass up a free bed, it would be even rarer for someone like him to be asleep at this time, too busy hunting or keeping innocents from harm. He stopped and stared back into the forest, the Ursa Major was wandering too close to the city. He chose to eliminate it before it had the chance to do any damage.

He stared back at the message, maybe it was best to call it a night. Who knows how taxing tomorrow might be. Closing his scroll he set off at a slight jog, in the direction of Beacon High.

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**Aaaaand there you have it, my first ever chapter. I'll try and update this as often as I can. I'm writing this story mainly for myself and my friends but I decided to put it here for others to enjoy :)**

**Also sorry for the lack of action and romance, as I said it will take a while to get going, the first few chapters will be building blocks and then the good stuff will come. Oh, it will come *looks maniacally***

**Anyway, I'll be going now, have a good life! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Beacon in the Night**

The jog, and occasional flat out sprint, took a lot longer for him to reach the foot of Beacon than he believed. Cross' journey took him through the agricultural and residential districts of Vale, both of which were much larger than he had expected. He reminded himself not to take the advice of his elders too literal:

'_It's situated in a rather small city named Vale' _the Elders informed him.

'_Rather small my ass' _Cross retorted. He looked at his wrist and tapped his scroll; it opened up and showed him only the most important information. His Aura levels, his location and the time, which was 12:24 AM.

Almost an hour had passed since he set off and he still had a ways to go yet. '_I hope they don't mind me arriving so late' _Cross looked at his Aura levels, which were still near to full. Cross smiled, tracking, trapping and dispatching an Ursa Major took almost nothing out of him. This wasn't at all surprising; Cross remembered the foolish time he got himself trapped in a Deathstalker lair. The massive scorpion like creature did not take kindly on his intrusion.

'_Let's never do that again' _he thought to himself, remembering how he almost perished in that god forsaken cave.

He looked back at his Aura levels, '_I could use my Semblance to speed things up' _Cross frowned however, as his unique Semblance required immense concentration, which was something his late night run had took out of him. There were other ways to trigger the Semblance: '_Anger' He thought, _no go, there was nothing to be angry about. _'What about a life threatening situation' _Cross scanned his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a very peaceful and very quiet residential area, there was no threat of death here '_Death from boredom perhaps' _Cross smiled gently to himself. '_More running it is then'_ he decided and began is hike up the incredibly steep hill located at Beacon High south side.

Cross was beyond caring about the time when he finally reached the top. The view before him was breath-taking. Beacon High was an incredibly huge and incredibly beautiful academy. Before Cross lay a beautiful white stone path leading directly to Beacons main entrance. The complex was surrounded by a large aqueduct style archway that stretched around, which he assumed was, the entirety of Beacon, with a smaller second ring just inside it, a stone path was built between the two which Cross assumed would lead you all the way around Beacon. Further down the path was a large fountain with a statue erected in the centre of it. The statue was of a Human hunter and a Faunus huntress standing triumphantly on top of a defeated Ursa Major. Cross marvelled at the academy itself, dozens of buildings joined together to form a massive circular shaped complex, with a massive tower jutting from the centre towards the sky. All of which was made out of a beautiful white stone. Along the main path to the entrance hung large, red portrait banners bearing an emblem which Cross was not familiar with.

Cross had seen beautiful architecture before but this was truly something. Realising that he'd been gawking for far too long Cross proceeded towards the main entrance. As he approached he saw two guards carrying long halberds talking to one another, one was leaning against the wall whilst the other guard was standing talking to him but had his back to Cross.

The guard against the wall spotted Cross approaching and immediately stood straight while firmly grasping his halberd, the second seeing his friends reaction spun around and, spotting Cross followed suit, both held their halberds at the ready, prepared to fend off an attack.

'_These guys seem a little jumpy' _Cross thought to himself, his pace slowed to an eventual halt as he looked down at his attire. A smile crept across his face as he finally clocked on as to why.

Cross was almost covered in an all dark green combat outfit. His feet were covered with soft, rubber shoes, these allowed him to walk or even sprint while making little to no contact noise with his feet to the ground. His trousers were of a soft leather material, they were tight at the ankles but were slightly baggy at his thighs and crotch area, and this allowed for extra freedom when he crouched, and performed combat rolls or any other physically intensive manoeuvres. His torso was covered with a jacket made out of the same material, the jacket clung tightly to his body, the front was closed up with a mixture of buttons and ribbons which stretched from the base of the jacket halfway up his body, while the rest of which was just the same soft leather fabric. Anyone who saw Cross probably wondered how on Remnant you were supposed to take the damn thing off. The sleeves covered all of his arms, though Cross had chosen to roll them up to just below the elbow, and his hands were covered with fingerless gloves. The entire outfit was made in three layers, the first layer was a dark green silk fabric that was smooth and excellent to feel against his skin, the second, was tightly woven Mithril, extraordinarily strong but also an extremely light metal. The Mithril protected him from sharp objects such as spears, swords or even an Ursa's claws. And the third and final layer was the dark green soft leather that everyone could see. A scroll could be seen strapped to his left arm. Cross however thought the clothes weren't the real reason why they were spooked: obviously visible, protruding from Cross' back were two handles which were attached to two large blades, and either side of those, sticking out from above his shoulders were the fletchings of a dozen or so arrows located within two quivers.

All in all, Cross would have appeared to be an incredibly dangerous man (which he was) fully ready and equipped for combat (also true). Throw in the time of night and Cross would look like an Assassin come to strike in the dark.

'_If I were an Assassin, I would hardly walk up to the main door' _Cross shook his head and approached the two guards, both gripped their halberds tight and pointed them at Cross.

"Who are you?!" The first guard barked.

"Why are you here?!" The second guard demanded.

Cross sighed, "I'm here to see Headmaster" Cross tried to look as unthreatening as possible, even going so far as to raise his hands in defence. "My name is Alexander Cross, I was invited here to oversee the tournament" Cross explained.

Both guards appeared to relax a little bit.

"My apologies Mr Cross, we were expecting you earlier in the day" The second guard sounded genuinely sorry. This caused the first guard to relax, and they both lowered their halberds. "I shall inform someone that you have arrived"

"Thank you" Cross smiled and turned from the guards. He could hear the guard begin a one sided conversation. He stared back up at the moon again.

A few moments passed when the main doors finally swung open, this snapped Cross back into reality and he turned to face the man who exited from the building.

It was a middle-aged man with tousled grey hair and thin brown eyes. He was wearing shaded glass spectacles and a dark-green scarf with a small purple cross-shaped emblem on it. His torso was covered with an unzipped black suit over a black-buttoned vest, with a green under-shirt underneath. He was also wearing black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. In his right hand he carried a mug bearing an emblem on it, Cross recognised it as the same emblem that he saw on the large red banners from before, and he now assumed that was Beacons official emblem.

The man stepped up to Cross, his height only just outdoing Cross', while the guards stood just behind him.

A few moments had passed and the man still said nothing, seconds turned to minutes and the silence was becoming unbearable. Cross decided to be the first to break the silence.

"You're late" the man pointed out. Cross had barely opened his mouth.

"I got distracted" Cross informed him, reminding himself of the Ursa he dispatched. "I chose to go on a hunting trip" he further elaborated. The man merely took a sip from his mug and continued to stare at Cross.

"Any good game?" The older man questioned.

"Nothing worth mentioning" came Cross' response. The man merely smiled at this.

"Alex if you had killed a Nevermore you would still deem it 'not worth mentioning'" both he and Cross broke into a large grin. The man stretched his hand out and Cross took it in a firm shake.

"It's great to see you again Ozpin" Cross beamed.

"You too Alex" Ozpin smiled back. "Come…" Ozpin said placing a hand on Cross' shoulder "…Let me show you to your quarters" Ozpin turned and led Cross through the large doors. The guards now smiled at him as he passed them. Cross was led into a large open area with two staircases in front of them with a dozen corridors leading off in different directions. He already knew navigating this place was going to be a challenge. Cross followed Ozpin up one of the staircases.

"I don't suppose I could get a map of the school?" He asked. Ozpin turned back to him.

"I'll see that Miss Goodwitch sends you a map to your scroll as soon as possible." Ozpin replied.

Ozpin continued to lead him through a maze of corridors until they finally reached a large oak wood door set into the white wall.

"Here we are" Ozpin pushed open the door. Cross' face was immediately overcome with confusion. The room they stepped into was not that of a bedroom but instead an office. The far wall was mostly a large window that allowed complete view of the grounds below and that of the trees of Forever Fall. The walls were adorned with paintings and pictures ranging from beautiful landscapes to that of students celebrating victories or posing for tournament photos. In the middle of the room was a large oak desk on which either side were leather chairs.

"So, this is a lovely bedroom" Cross commented sarcastically.

"I'll take you to your quarters soon, but for now I would like to talk to you about your…" Ozpin hesitated "…condition" he finished. Cross sighed, he knew this talk was going to come up sooner or later but he had hoped he would at least get some shut eye first. "Please, take a seat" Ozpin held his hand out to one of the chairs as he walked around to the other side of the desk and sat down. Cross walked over to the chair but refused to sit, instead stood with his arms folded across his chest. Both he and Ozpin stared at each other.

"So?" Ozpin questioned. It wasn't much but enough that Cross knew exactly what he was getting at.

"I have things under contr-"

"Don't you dare say you have things under control!" Ozpin interrupted. "The last time you told me you had it under control was right before you butchered five unarmed men!" The irritation and anger in Ozpin's voice was apparent. Cross couldn't help but wince at the reminder of his failure to keep calm, to stop himself overflowing with rage, to prevent his 'other half' from taking over, because of his failure five men lost their lives, five criminals mind you, but they were still unarmed. The men were Faunus, humans that had animal features and characteristics, most humans suppressed the Faunus people, while the Faunus resorted to riots, or terrorism. These particular men were gloating about the innocents they killed, of their successful plan to bomb an airship full of people. The men were captured and detained, and were awaiting transport to a prison. The gloats however got the best of Cross and he blacked out, the next thing he remembered was standing, covered in blood and surrounded by their corpses.

Cross looked away from Ozpin, even though they were friends he understood the risk that he was taking by allowing him into Beacon, and the threat that it posed to his students. If there was one thing that he knew about Ozpin, was that he would never endanger the lives of his pupils needlessly.

"Afraid I might kill one of your students?" Cross asked nonchalantly.

"I'm afraid you'll kill dozens of them" he retorted.

Cross was unsure of why he was being so difficult, he guessed that it was because he didn't like the surprise interrogation, or the assumption that he hadn't changed in three years. Never-the-less Cross actually had some good news on the matter.

"When I said that I have it under control, I truly do mean that"

"Oh?" was Ozpin's only response, his face showing surprise. Cross sat at the desk.

"A few months after you left Rinette for Vale I ran into an old tribe of Rinetian warriors" Ozpin merely listened carefully, occasionally taking a sip from his mug. "They had trained others with my condition, and said that they could help me 'become whole'" Cross raised his hands and made air quotes as he spoke. "I trained with them for eight months, every day was a trial, they taught me restraint, patience, tolerance but most importantly they taught me self-control. "

"For four weeks straight they would alternate the days, one day they would keep me calm and at peace, the next day they would piss me off, rile me up and provoke me into rage. Eventually I was able to control both sides of me fluidly, sure, there was always the danger of losing control, but at least now I knew what I was doing and had a far better chance of restraining myself before I could do too much damage." Ozpin continued to listen; he had a calm but worried? No, a look of pity was on his face. "One week they would have me fight members of their tribe. One man would yell 'switch' and on his command I would succumb to the rage, he would yell again and I would suppress it and return to a calm state. Failure to do so on time resulted in a severe lashing. Eventually, I got the technique down" Cross finished.

Ozpin continued to stare, "You were sixteen at this point?" Cross nodded. "There is a sixteen year old girl here starting her second year at Beacon. The idea of her being lashed puts a knot in my stomach" Ozpin chimed as he stared into his mug.

'_Only sixteen and already at her second year at Beacon.' _ Cross thought to himself. '_Whoever this girl is she must be talented'_ he concluded. Most people are usually only seventeen when they start their first year at beacon, to be so young and already so far ahead…

"You misunderstand" Cross replied, choosing to continue the conversation. "You imagine her being lashed against her will, I chose this path for myself" Ozpin nodded at him.

"Very true Alex, a very cruel and harsh life you have had so far, and you're only eighteen. Perhaps your time at Beacon can add some happy memories" Ozpin smiled at him.

"I have happy memories" Cross shot back, "There was that one time I saved this professor from an Imperial Manticore" A crude smile crept across his face.

"Please" Ozpin said, waving his hand dismissively, "I had everything under control"

"Uh huh"

Ozpin smiled and led Cross out of the office. A few moments later they were at smooth metal door, which had a card scanner to its right. Ozpin pulled the card and handed it to Cross.

"This is your only access to your quarters. I suggest you don't lose it" Handing him the card Ozpin turned and left, " Remember" Ozpin called back.

"Assembly at ten, I know, I know." Cross called back as he swiped the card against the scanner. The door opened with light whoosh noise. He entered the room and looked around. It was a simple room, a window with a view of the forest, bed, cupboard, a set of drawers and a bedside table. There were two doors either side of the room, Cross presumed they led to the kitchen and bathroom respectively. He didn't care however; walking to the bed he began removing his weapon and clothes. He barely had his last item of clothing off him before he collapsed on the bed. Exhaustion and weariness over took him and it wasn't long before he fell into a deep sleep, and into his unforgiving nightmare.

**A/N ****I hope you enjoyed this considerably longer chapter. **Again sorry for the lack of action and fluffy stuff, building blocks and all that.

**Again feel free to leave your thoughts of the story, reviews are always appreciated. :)**

**Anyway I'll show myself out, have a wonderful life. Ciao :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Nightmares of a Happier Time**

_Alex felt himself being lifted into the air and pulled into a warm embrace. The women who held him had the most beautiful features, soft pale skin, and ruby lips, her gentle silver eyes watching over him and long soft black hair that reached down to the base of her back. She reminded Alex of the angels that were in the stories that his father used to read to him before he went to sleep. She was his mother, perfect in every way._

"_Guess who is home?" The woman cooed. At that moment the front door opened and a tall burly man entered._

"_Hey, hey, there's my boy" The man beamed taking Alex from the women and holding him high in the air. "Miss me champ?"_

"_Uh huh" Alex reached his arms out to embrace the man in a hug. The man had short dishevelled black hair with thin blue eyes. His features hard and a stubble beard covered his lower face. His father leaned over to his mum and kissed her softly on the lips._

"_Everything went OK?" His mum questioned._

"_Of course" his dad replied, "A simple psychiatric eval, the Docs say I'm all good" He returned his gaze to Alex and hoisted him back into the air. "It just means one less monster in the world, eh Alex?"_

_Alex didn't register what he was saying; he was enjoying being thrown into the air by his loving father._

"_Alright, alright" his mother interrupted, "I've kept him up late enough waiting for you to come home" She took Alex back and headed for the stairs. "Also I need to talk to you about something, Paul"_

"_What about" asked the man. The woman, either not hearing him or choosing to ignore him, didn't reply. "Athena?" his tone becoming serious._

"_I'll tell you once I put Alex to sleep!" she scolded the man for his impatience._

_Time seemed to speed up and Alex opened his eyes, he was warm and safe under the blanket of his comfy bed. The room shrouded in darkness except for a single beam of light that shone through the crack in the door as it hung ajar. Alex could hear voices coming from downstairs._

"…_and you're OK with it?" He could hear the unmistakable sweet sound of his mother's voice._

"_The man was a criminal and a pretty important one at that. This place will be a lot safer now that I put him in the ground!" came his father's reply, the sound of irritation clear in his voice._

"_Paul! Don't say such things!"_

_Time sped forward again, this time Alex was woken abruptly by the sound of something smashing followed quickly by a woman's screams. Sounds of crunching, and things being smashed, deafening gunshots rang throughout the house. Alex, panicking and terrified, ran from his room and went in search of his mother, he knew for sure she would keep him safe and make the loud noises stop._

"_MUM! MUM! MUM!" Alex screamed as loud as he could as he ran onto the landing and down the stairs towards the living room. The noises had stopped, all but a soft chewing noise. Alex reached the bottom of the stairs and turned into the living room. The view of a horror unimaginable to him was now being burned into his brain, an image that would haunt him until his final days._

_The living room was in pieces, everything was broken, the front door, tables, chairs, pictures were knocked over and the room was streaked with red. Alex stared down at a figure lying a meter away from him. A beautiful women, her body now disfigured and mangled, a large red stain pooling out from under her body, large gashes were seen across her body and face and a large bite mark could be seen on her throat, her beautiful silver eyes staring into nothingness. A bitter smell of iron bit at Alex' nose, as he looked away from the dead angel to a large man a few meters away, a gun visible in his right hand, and a large black fur creature crouched over him, the man's stomach was torn open and the creature had pulled his guts out and was idly chewing on them._

_Alex let out the smallest of whimpers as he stared at the carnage, the creature snapped its head up and stared directly at Alex, a hefty grunt left the creature's mouth and it dropped the man's innards. With a deafening howl the creature lunged, its fangs and teeth pierced Alex's small body._

Cross immediately sat up in his bed, his hands darting to his stomach and throat checking for wounds. His body was slick from the cold sweat that covered his body and soaked the bedding. He let himself take in a few large breaths, his heart slowed and he felt his panic subsiding. Cross stared around his room at Beacon High. The warm sunlight was just beginning to graze his room and the sounds of the morning birds chirping could be heard through his open window; he leaned over to the bedside table and grabbed a hold of his scroll, tapping it open he checked the time, 08:44 AM. A few measly hours of sleep, but now it was too late to try and grab some more, and the images from his nightmare were still fresh in his mind. Deciding now was as good a time as any; Cross headed for a shower, and began to prepare for the assembly and his introduction to the students of Beacon.

**A/N Sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted to add a little back story for Alex ,and this event will be relevant to the overall plot.**

**I am part way through Chapter 4 which is looking to be the biggest chapter yet, I also switched things up and wrote it from Yang's perspective as she and the rest of team RWBY get to meet Alex.**

**Anyway, thank you to everyone who has read my story, the plot is coming together in my head and I may have an idea for a fight scene between our hero and someone from the RWBY universe.**

**I'll get chapter 4 up as soon as, but for now have a good life. Ciao :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: First Impressions**

Yang's consciousness came to her slow and groggy, her eyes refusing to open as the light streaming into the room burned her eyes. Stretching in her bed she let out a long and drawn out yawn.

"About time you woke up" came an agitated voice, "The assembly is in half an hour" The voice belonged to Weiss Schnee, one of four girls that formed Team RWBY.

"Huh, wha?" Yang rose from her bed, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stared around her room. It may have been her second term at Beacon but their shared dorm room wasn't much different. The large main room consisted of three chests of drawers, one large cupboard, one large window adorning the north wall, a small bookcase, two sets of bunk beds and a leather chair. The walls were covered with an amalgam of posters and paintings. There were three doors leading away from the main room, the main door opposite the window, with the other doors on the west and east wall leading to the kitchen and bathroom respectively.

Yang's team-mates were already dressed in their school uniforms and were now waiting on Yang to get ready.

"Why didn't you just wake me up?" Yang asked.

"Please, an Ursa could come smashing in here and you still wouldn't wake up" The snarky remark came from Blake Belladonna, she stood leaning against the wall by the main door. Blake was tall and slender and had a pale complexion like Weiss and Ruby with wavy black hair that fell down passed her shoulders. She had dark amber eyes that were accentuated by her purple eye shadow. On top of her head sat a little black bow that covered up her Faunus heritage, a pair of small violet cat ears.

"Not to mention" Weiss interjected. "The last time I tried to wake you, you punched me in the nose" her anger was evident amongst her usual icy tone. Weiss was sat in an upright position on her bottom bunk, her long white hair styled in an offset ponytail, the base of which she adorned a tiara that resembled Icicles. She stared at Yang coldly with her piercing Ice blue eyes, her left eye bearing a crooked scar down it. Weiss also maintained a slim figure, though she was not as tall as herself or Blake and her skin was as close to white as you could get.

"Ha-ha" Yang laughed awkwardly as she started stroking her own long golden hair, "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not", she shot Weiss a sarcastic smile; Weiss just maintained her steady icy stare.

"That's what you get for poking the bear" Blake joked. Now it was Yang's turn to stare down Blake, who ignored her and continued to read her book, a smile etched across her face.

"Hey!" Yang, jumped down from her top bunk, "Where's Ruby?" she never got and answer, just Blake pointing into the kitchen, her focus still on her book.

"Whatsh shup?" Ruby emerged from the kitchen holding a small bag of cookies, half of the contents of which were stuffed into her mouth.

"Ruby you dolt! What have I told you about talking with your mouth full!" reprimanded Weiss. Ruby took one large gulp.

"Sorry Weiss" Ruby looked innocently at the floor. Yang stared at her baby sister, a small look of pride on her face. Ruby was the shortest of the group and also the youngest. She was moved ahead two years when she impressed the headmaster of Beacon with her prowess in combat. Ruby stood staring at her feet, her short black and red tipped hair covering her face; she looked back up at Weiss with her bright silver eyes. "It won't happen again, promise"

"Urgh, you say that every time, then you get your hands on a bag of cookies and before you know it you're spitting crumbs everywhere" came another rebuke from Weiss who was now standing waving her hand menacingly in Ruby's face, "And you!" she was now pointing at Yang, "Get ready! We now only have twenty minutes before assembly" Weiss barked.

"I'm on it" Yang snapped to attention and gave Weiss a salute "Give me a sec" she said before dashing into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Blake set her book down and Weiss and Ruby moved to the front door in preparation to set off.

Yang stared at herself him the bathroom mirror that was situated above their sink. She stared heavily at her features, most notable was her long golden hair that became a lighter shade as it got closer to the tips, and her hair was messy and loose, Yang however preferred not to brush as she was afraid of pulling off strands of her hair. She stared into her own bright lilac eyes and pinched her cheeks trying to add some colour to her pale complexion.

'_Maybe some make-up, and a quick fiddle with the hair and I should be good' Yang nodded to herself._

"I'll be quick!" Yang yelled to her team-mates, "Just sorting my hair!" she heard an audible groan come from the other room.

The rest of Team RWBY knew that Yang was never quick when it came to her hair. It was a popular topic when it came to being in a hurry, no matter how long Yang spent 'sorting her hair' it would never look any different than when she started.

Blake proceeded to read her book while Weiss sat back down on the bed and Ruby went back to the bag of cookies.

* * *

"Blast it Yang" Weiss snarled as they entered the large auditorium which acted as their assembly area as well as the arena for tournament style duels. They were now running fifteen minutes late thanks to Yang's preparations.

"Relax Weiss, we only missed Ozpin welcoming the first year students" Blake pointed out.

Ozpin was stood on a large elevated stage in front of the large gathering of students, a cane in his left hand with his coffee mug in his right. The walls were decorated with grey tones with thin green lines running down them to help accentuate the greys, the stage itself stood a meter off the ground with a sloped edge that had the same thin green lines running down its face. He was in the middle of addressing the new students while giving them a brief idea of what to expect at their first year at Beacon. Weiss breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why do you care if we're late anyway?" Yang asked. The four girls were now huddled together in the middle of the large crowd, a clear view of the stage and Ozpin.

Weiss spun on her heels and faced her "You got the message from Ozpin and you heard the other professors. There's a special announcement today and I'd rather not miss it because you were too busy fumbling with your mane!" Weiss snorted as she turned back to the stage. Yang was about to return fire when Weiss waved her hand dismissively.

"Shh, sh, sh, sh, be quiet he's starting!" Yang glared at the back of the white haired girls head, but remained quiet and looked up at Ozpin.

"As you all know, I have a special announcement for you all today" Ozpin began, pushing his spectacles further up the bridge of his nose. "As many of you are aware, the Vale tournament will be held in just a few months' time" Some students began cheering at this statement. "It is a great opportunity for you and your team to compete against other students from our neighbouring kingdoms. However, we will have a special guest joining us from the academy Foresight" This announcement was met with a lot of discussion and mumbling from the students.

"Foresight?" Weiss had a look of awe and fear across her face.

"What is it Weiss?" asked Yang, but Weiss ignored her.

"I'm sure many of you have heard of Foresights' grim reputation" Ozpin continued. "Of the brutal way they train their students and the high fatality rate they have during their training. I visited Foresight a few weeks before this school year started and I was informed that the fatality rate of last year's initiates into their academy was" Ozpin hesitated, to add suspense or hesitation to reveal such information no one was sure. "92% out of one thousand, two hundred and twenty three students" Ozpin finished. An audible gasp was heard from the students quickly followed by heated discussion.

"92%!" Ruby shrieked. "That's…that's…" Ruby repeated trying to work out the math in her head.

"One thousand, one hundred and twenty five died during training" Blake answered, Yang noticed a slight look of nausea on Blake's face, it was slight but it was there. "That means that only ninety eight of them survived initiation" This entire time Weiss was silent, merely staring up at Ozpin.

A figure joined Ozpin on the stage, they all stared at the man, who was covered in a dark green combat outfit, and his silver piercing eyes surveyed the students in front of him.

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"I would like you to meet Alexander Cross" Ozpin spoke holding his hand out to Alex.

"Oh" Yang chimed, her question being answered. Ozpin continued his announcement.

"Mr Cross here is a Team Leader and one of the longest running members of the academy." He turned to look at Alex who was still surveying the students. He ran his eyes over their faces, Yang watched him with a look of awe. Who the hell was this guy and why did she feel off by being in his presence.

"Something's not right with him" Blake spoke with a hushed voice, barely above a whisper, however Yang was close enough to hear her.

"What is it?" she asked. Blake just shook her head.

"I don't know, I sense…something about his Aura. It's not right" she looked at Yang, who stared back before returning her gaze to Alex.

Her heart froze in her chest; his piercing silver eyes were staring at her.

* * *

Cross surveyed the students in front of him, some were fresh faced, innocent to the horrors that this world held, whilst others were more hardened mostly likely having proved themselves in combat, amongst other students or amongst the creatures of Grimm.

'_Well they look disappointing, I can see coming here was a waste of time' _a voice called from deep within Cross. He sighed inwardly.

"I thought you promised to be quiet while we were in Vale, in return you can have control over any combat we run into_?" _Cross thought to himself, speaking to the other voice in his head.

"_Yeah but there's clearly going to be no combat here, not any that you would need me for, anyway besides look at these hotties! How can I stay quiet about these beauties?"_

Cross sighed, ignoring the other voices remarks. He tried to keep up appearances by continuing to survey the students. However Cross found his gaze drawn to a tall strong looking blonde who was talking to a raven haired girl, at that moment she turned and faced him, her beautiful lilac eyes staring into his.

'_Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about. Look at those fun bags; you have a good eye my friend a VERY good eye'_

Cross winced at the voices remarks but couldn't help but notice how beautiful this girl was, and though he hated to agree with the voice, she was extremely endowed.

* * *

Yang noticed Alex wince. Why did he wince? Was he put off by her? Maybe he just got nervous? Maybe he thought…she was weak looking? Yang felt a flare of anger in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't care who this idiot is" Yang said to herself, "I'll show him who's weak!" Yang cracked her knuckles together.

"You are now dismissed" Ozpin spoke; the students immediately burst into conversation and began filing out of the room.

"Huh? Wha?" Yang looked around bewildered. Did she just miss the rest of Ozpin's announcement? "What did he say?" she looked at the rest of her team. Weiss had finally snapped out of her daze and they were preparing to leave.

"He said that Alex guy would be over seeing the tournament and will be helping and answering questions if we needed it." Ruby answered her, following Blake and Weiss out of the hall. Yang caught up to Blake and leaned in close to her;

"Get anything else about his Aura? She asked. Blake looked lost in her thoughts. "Blake?" Yang gently shook her shoulder.

"Huh, what is it Yang" the look of confusion still spread across her face.

"I asked if you got anything else from that guy's Aura."

"I'm not sure, I think so" was her response.

"What do you mean think so?" Yang was getting a little impatient.

"When he was staring at you, I thought I sensed something but…" Blake trailed off. Yang grabbed Blake firmly by the shoulders and held her firm.

"What are you getting at?" Yang was about to lose her calm soon if Blake didn't start making sense.

Blake stared up at her.

"I think he has two Auras'"

* * *

**A/N So there you have it. Our friend Alex has two Auras. I wonder if it has something to do with that other voice in his head?**

**This is the last "building block" chapter, from here on out I can get down to the nitty gritty, plot progression, fights, maybe some romance?**

**I've already began chapter 5, here's a sneak peak;**

**'**The girls were all looking extremely nervous, Cross' face had grown considerably darker and he was looking as if he was going to attack them. Yang instinctively put herself between Ruby and the ever menacing looking Cross.'

**Whaaaaaa? Alex attacks team RWBY? Well hopefully you'll find out soon, until then have a nice life. Ciao :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Arras**

Cross walked through the halls of Beacon; it was quite a different sight than the one he was greeted with last night. The gorgeous midday sun reflected against the white stone buildings adding a beautiful shine to everything, it made the school feel warm and inviting, so comforting you couldn't help but smile and marvel at its beauty.

The bustling and atmosphere the students added was also something to behold, so much life and happiness, Cross could feel their auras practically irradiating with joy. However Cross did get some strange looks as he walked the halls, and some students did their best to keep out of his way. He didn't mind however, while Ozpin had instructed him to mingle with the students and share his vast wealth of knowledge with them, he was quite happy if they all just left him to his own devices. That was until Cross turned the corner and saw something that made his anger boil to its limit.

Acceptance was something that was prevalent in the kingdom of Cavros, Cross' home and where Foresight was situated. No matter if you were human or Faunus, straight or homosexual you were always accepted for who you are. In Cavros life was hard and people knew that life is a short and a beautiful thing, and to waste such time hating others for the way they look, or who they choose to spend their life with seemed so pathetic. So you can imagine Cross' surprise when Ozpin had told him three years ago that in other kingdoms, the Faunus were suppressed or bullied and that there were even wars waged between the two groups. Cross told himself that day that if he ever visited these kingdoms, no matter what, he would stand up for those who were pushed down and spat on, and Cross was about to get one such moment.

As Cross turned the corner he was greeted by a fairly empty corridor, both walls were lined with lockers with windows situated just above them allowing the midday sun to stream giving the hallway the same inviting look. A few students mingled about but they mostly stayed away from the commotion in the middle of the hallway. About a hundred meters away Cross could see four large guys stood around one small girl pinning her against the lockers. Cross advanced for a better view, the small girl was a Faunus, evident by her very large bunny ears that she had sprouting from the top of her head. One of the four men had her ear pinned against the locker with his fist.

'_Faunus ears are extremely sensitive, that must hurt like a bitch' _the other voiced chimed in. Tears were filling the girl's eyes as she squirmed and cried with pain, whilst the men around her just laughed.

"P-please, l-let me g-go" she pleaded; tears were beginning to stream down her face.

"Hahaha, Cardin was right, they are real" laughed the student who had the girl pinned, his friends all joining in on this mockery of human behaviour. Two of them were stood either side of the girl, leaning against the lockers, while the third and fourth were stood in front of her boxing her in.

Cross was now stood behind the one who had her pinned and his friend, he was staring at the girl, her eyes darting between her four assailants, begging, pleading for the pain to stop, to be let go.

The fire in Cross was beginning to rise; he stared at the back of the two men in front of him.

'_You know Ozpin won't be happy to hear we attacked some of his students' _the other voice pointed out.

"You would rather I walk on by and ignore this girls plea for help?" Cross thought angrily to himself, speaking to the other voice.

'_No' _it replied, '_I want you to break their fucking legs'_

At that moment the girl saw him standing there, her eyes red from crying, she looked at him.

"P-please" the girl whimpered, "H-help me"

"Ha-ha" the faceless student laughed as he applied more pressure to the girl's ear, she whined in pain. "No one is coming to help you" he sniggered.

"Think again" Cross retorted.

Cross grabbed the back of his uniform and threw him across the hallway, smashing him into the lockers. Wasting no time in his surprise assault, Cross drove his fist into the stomach of the man to his left, he grimaced with pain as the air was forced from his body, and he staggered back a few steps before doubling over. Cross then stepped towards the man on the girls right and drove his foot upwards into his balls, the man cried in pain as he bent over clutching his crotch, grabbing the scruff of his neck Cross threw him into the fourth assailant and both were sent flying in a heap of tangled limbs.

The first student to go down was now back on his feet delivered a straight kick towards Cross' back. The girl seeing the attack only managed to squeal and point at him. Cross, seeing this stepped quickly to his right as the attackers kick sailed passed him and into a locker, denting the metal door. Cross grabbed hold of his ankle and held his leg in the air, his assailant was now hopping on one foot, and his arms flailed wildly as he tried to keep his balance.

"Let go of me you freak!" he screamed. Cross ignored him; instead he raised his left arm into the air and with all the strength he could muster dropped his elbow onto the man's knee. There was a blood curdling sound as his knee shattered beneath the blow, his leg bent in an almost nauseating way. His screams of pain deafened the halls and the colour quickly drained from his face, not caring about the man's pain Cross once again threw him across the hall and into the lockers. He slumped to the floor screaming and clutching his mangled leg, his team mates gathering their wits quickly rushed to his side.

"Why did you do that?" One of them shouted at Cross.

"You monster" another screamed.

"MONSTER?" Cross shouted back, "THE ONLY MONSTERS I SEE HERE ARE THE FOUR ASSHOLES WHO PICKED ON A LONE GIRL!" Cross' Aura was peaking and visible green flames began to flow from his body in hot waves. "Now! Why don't you get out of my face before I decide to break a few more legs?"

Not needing telling twice the men gathered up their friend, who had now passed out from the pain, and rushed him off to the infirmary. Cross watched them leave and could feel his anger subsiding, the green flames disappearing; he took one very deep breath and felt his body relax.

'_Bravo, absolutely splendid. I don't think I could have done that better myself, well except for the fact that I would have killed them and worn their skins as coats but apart from that you nailed it right on the head' _

Cross turned to the Faunus girl who was now huddled up into a ball on the floor, she was whimpering quietly and tears could still be seen on her face.

"Hey" Cross spoke in a soft tone, "Are you OK?" He gently placed his hand on her shoulder. The girl almost screamed and scurried a few feet away from Cross.

'_Oh please, this girl is a lost cause, can we go find more hooligans to rough up?'_

Cross refused to leave the girl; instead he sat on the floor next to her. A few students had begun walking through the halls and were stopping to watch the scene before them. Cross moved up close to the girl and rested his head against the lockers; she was next to him, her knees pulled up to her chest, her long brown hair shielding her face. She had a small and fragile frame, Cross thought that even though she didn't seem like much of a warrior, there must have been something about her that got her into Beacon

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure you're OK" he began, "My name is Alex"

"I know" the girl whimpered, "I saw you at the assembly, you're from that terrible school" she looked up from her knees, her hair parting, revealing her soft delicate features. Cross smiled at her, and he saw that her tears had stopped.

"I am" Cross replied, "It's nowhere near as nice as this place" Cross spoke as he looked around the halls.

"Why did you help me?" the young girl asked. Cross turned back to her.

"You needed help and I wanted to help" Cross shrugged.

"Even though I'm a Faunu-"

"I don't care that you're Faunus" Cross interrupted, still keeping his tone soft. "Those jerks were bullying you, I wasn't going to stand by and let that happen"

"You hurt one of them" her tone was soft almost a whisper and Cross had to strain to hear what she was saying, but he noticed a small smile across her face.

"Ha-ha, I did, I don't think he'll be walking around any time soon." Cross smiled to the girl.

"Good" she nodded her head; "My name is Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina" she smiled back.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Velvet, maybe now is a good time to get off the floor" Cross suggested, Velvet nodded her agreement, he stood up and helped her too her feet, he noticed her wince in pain as she stood.

"I thought you said you were OK" he asked accusingly. Velvet looked a little timid.

"I am, it's just, and um well it's just my stupid ears" she spoke a little harshly at her ears.

"Hey!" Cross snapped causing the girl to jump, "You're ears are a part of you, you should never be ashamed of them, they make you who you are and that is something you should be proud of. Here." Cross gently took Velvets left ear, the one her assailant had pinned against the locker. She winced at the pain but didn't resist, Cross placed his hand on either side of her ear, where a bruise was beginning to show. He focused his Aura and pushed it towards his hands, letting the energy flow between his palms. Brilliant green flames began to dance around her ear, not burning but healing. Velvet looked up and watched as the emerald flames licked at her ear, she breathed a sigh of relief as his Aura numbed the pain and began to heal the damaged tissue. Cross removed his hands.

"There you go, how does that feel?" he asked.

"Much better" she smiled at him, all traces of the anguish and pain she felt moments before had now gone.

"Velvet!" a voice shouted from down the hallway.

"Oh right, I was meant to be heading to class" Velvet began running towards the voice, she stopped and ran back to Cross. "Thank you, for everything" she rose onto her tiptoes and kissed Cross on the cheek.

"Always" he smiled back to her. Velvet turned and ran back towards the voice. Cross rubbed his cheek where she planted the kiss. Today was turning out to be a pretty good day.

'_A kiss? Seriously? That's all we get? There better be girls who put out a lot more than that, otherwise I am going to be pi-issed'_

* * *

Yang watched from around the corner, she saw the whole thing. His advance on the bullies, his eventual fight, she couldn't help but smile when he broke one of their legs, '_You deserved that, you little shit' _she thought to herself.

What surprised her the most though was his attitude towards Velvet, he was kind and caring, after hearing about his school she expected, well she wasn't exactly sure of what she expected but it wasn't this. Maybe more of a monster than a man, caring only for the hunt and driven by bloodlust, but he was so gentle with Velvet that she couldn't help but smile at him. He was so sweet and sincere and what he said about Velvet being Faunus, '_Well that's him in Blake's good books' _she watched as Velvet kissed him on the cheek goodbye. Yang was a little surprised by that, Velvet was always so shy and reserved, to see her get the courage to kiss someone.

"Looks like someone made a good first impression" Yang spoke as she approached Alex. He turned and a momentary look of surprise flitted across his face. "I also saw what you did to those bullies" Cross merely stared at her, his arms folded across his chest. "I have to say I'm a little disappointed"

"Oh?" he asked. She couldn't help but stare into his deep silver eyes.

"A little disappointed that I didn't get to beat them up myself" a smile slowly appearing on her face.

"Well I didn't kill them, so you may still get a chance" Alex joked. "Besides you could have come out and helped me rather than watch from a distance." Yang waved her hand dismissively.

"You looked like you had things under control"

"Yeah, you're right, you probably would have just cramped my style anyway" Cross smiled. Yang placed a hand on her heart and feigned injury.

"Argh, you wound me with such words" she jested.

"Uh-huh, so? Is there a reason you're here?" he asked.

Yang suddenly remembered why she went looking for Alex in the first place, she was still pissed at the way he looked at her in the assembly and was planning on giving him a piece of her mind, but now after what she's seen she no longer felt anger towards the man.

'_Quick, think of an excuse' _she thought to herself. Yang remembered what Blake had said about him having two Aura's.

'_If I could get close to him for a while, I could find out for sure' _she remembered Blake telling her. Suddenly Yang had an epiphany.

"Right, yes, Ozpin said that you would answer any questions we had" she stammered out. Cross looked at her questioningly.

"So? What is your question?"

"Erm, no, it's not just me, my whole team has questions for you" Yang gave an awkward smile. Cross looked around the hallway, still barren from the lack of students.

"I'm not seeing them"

"Right, that's because they are waiting at our dorm room and I was sent to invite you over. The name's Yang!" she beamed at him.

"Alex"

He looked at her for a moment; Yang couldn't help but stare at his eyes. Someone once told Yang that a person's eyes were a small window into their soul and she was starting to agree. His eyes were similar to Ruby's in that they both shared the same deep silver eye colour but there was more to his eyes than that. It was as if his experiences affected his eyes, like he'd seen things most people wouldn't believe, been places that most could never imagine and done things most would never forgive.

"Alright, lead the way" Cross' answer jolted Yang from her daydream.

"Really?" Yang looked surprised at Alex's agreement to go with her. "Right, then follow me"

* * *

A few moments later both he and Yang were stood outside of team RWBY's dorm room. Yang swiped her card on the card scanner and the metal door slid open granting them access, Yang led the way followed closely by Cross.

'_Oh. My. God' _

Cross was greeted by a dorm room slightly larger than his, in front of him on either side were a set of bunk beds, three of which had a girl sitting or lying on, all of them immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at Cross.

'_A whole room of these beauties, if we play our cards right we may live out one of our greatest fantasies'_

"One of YOUR greatest fantasies" Cross thought, correcting the voice.

'_You and me are the same person, now shut up and get these girls on their knees!" _The voice snapped, Cross ignored him.

"Guys" Yang announced, "You all remember Alexander from the assembly, he's agreed to answer any questions we have" The other girls were now on their feet. "Alex, this is Weiss" she gestured to a white haired girl.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Weiss spoke as she curtsied. The other girls just looked at her weirdly.

"Okaaaaay, that was weird" Yang remarked, Weiss shot her an Icy glare but Yang just moved on.

"Oh, and this is my baby sister Ruby" Yang exclaimed squeezing the poor girl in a tight hug and suffocating her with her breasts.

'_Oh yeah, I hope she hugs us like that'_

"Please shtahp!" the young girl pleaded, and Yang released her from her bear hug.

"Ruby is our fearless leader and she's only sixteen" Yang pointed out with a large helping of pride in her voice.

"Pleased to meet you" Ruby held her and out and Cross took it in a firm handshake.

"Likewise" said Cross, "You must be the girl that Ozpin was referring to." This was met with questioning looks from the girls. "He told me a girl of sixteen was starting her second year here. I thought to myself that this girl must be something special to be so young and get so far" he explained, "I hope to see it for myself if you perform in the tournament"

"Of course!" Ruby exclaimed. Well at least she was confident.

"Lastly but not least we have Blake" Yang gestured to a tall raven haired girl. Cross recognised her as the one Yang was speaking to in the assembly.

"It's nice to meet you Blake" Crossed extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you too" she took Cross' hand.

'_She's a Faunus'. _Cross' inner voice pointed out.

"What? How do you know?" he asked the voice.

'_Her bow, look at it twitch like mad, definitely Faunus ears under there. You know we've never been with a Faunus girl'_

"We've never been with any kind of girl" Cross pointed out.

'_That's because you're always in control, if I had the reigns, we'd have slept with a lot more girls.'_

"Yeah I don't think rape counts" Cross snorted inwardly.

'_Alex!' _The voice snapped, '_Don't be so vulgar. Now, let me take control and let's see what noises I can get these girls to make'_

"I'm guessing something along the lines of, 'Oh god, oh god, please stop raping me'" Cross let a small chuckle escape his lips. Recovering his composure he decided to point this out to the group and gauge their reaction.

"So" he spoke to Blake, "You're a Faunus" Cross remarked. A look of surprise was plastered on all of the girl's faces.

"H-how did you know?" Blake stammered, taking a step back. Cross pointed to the top of his own head.

"Your bow is twitching like crazy" everyone stared at the bow atop Blake's head, which was indeed, twitching rapidly. "Now if I recall, a Faunus' ears only twitch like that when their excited, nervous or angry. So which one is it?" he queried. Blake started to look nervous.

"Well I've heard a bit about where you came from, and about Foresight. You're kind of a big deal" Cross would have accepted this excuse and moved on, however as she spoke, Blake kept looking at Yang. Cross looked between the two girls.

"Alright, something is going on here and I don't like being kept in the dark. So, you either tell me what's going on or I'm heading out that door" Cross pointed to the exit behind him. The two girls continued to exchange looks, while Weiss and Ruby looked at them both in confusion.

"Are you sure now Blake?" Yang asked, Blake nodded.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on" Weiss demanded. Blake stared at Cross.

"So" she began, "You have two Aura's" Weiss and Ruby stared at Cross in shock. Cross merely stared darkly at Blake.

"Impossible!" Weiss interjected, "An Aura is the outward manifestation of one's soul, to say he has two Aura's would be implying he has…" her voice trailed off, "…two souls?" she looked at him with horror.

The girls were all looking extremely nervous, Cross' face had grown considerably darker and they were afraid he was going to attack them. Yang instinctively put herself between Ruby and the ever angry looking Cross.

The voice inside Cross was laughing hysterically,

'_Ho-ly shit' _ the voice managed to say between hysterics, '_Out of all the people you meet, you had to find the one person that's Aura sensitive' _ the voice continued to laugh uncontrollably.

"At least someone here is having fun!" Cross sneered at the voice, his anger at the voice and his own disgust at his failure to keep his condition secret was becoming apparent on his face. He watched as Yang slowly moved over to Ruby.

'So', the voice was beginning to calm down, '_What do we do now? I personally say tell them, cat's outta the bag now, and hiding this may only make this worse_ '

"Oh yeah sure!" Cross snapped at the voice, "I'll tell them that I have two souls sharing one body and that each soul has its own Aura. Not only that, but each soul has two very different personalities AND to add a cherry on the cake, we can talk to each other with our thoughts." Cross spoke to the other voice, his thoughts contained a mix of sarcasm and anger. "Oh, oh and that's not the best part. If I let him take control of the body he tends to violently murder people!" Cross' thoughts were now screaming at the other half, who was now silent.

Alex?" Yang asked, her voice containing concern. Cross sighed heavily and slumped into a leather chair just behind him.

"Yes, I have two souls" Cross dead-panned, choosing to tell the girls and hope they understood, rather than keeping quiet only for them to form their own wildly inaccurate conclusions. The girls just stared at him, looks of shock on their face. Seconds turned to minutes and the girls still stood looking at him with shock and confusion.

"Will you please sit down you're making me uncomfortable" The girls moved to seat themselves. Blake sitting on her bottom bunk next to Cross, Weiss and Ruby both sat down on the other bottom bunk across from him, while Yang sat on the floor in front of him. Cross rubbed his eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Yang asked

"Yeah, it's just I was hoping to keep this a secret for months, to have it ousted within twenty four hours?" Cross shook his head.

"I am sorry" Blake said.

"No" Cross quickly spoke, "You were presented with an unknown and you chose to address it head on, besides, better you speak to me about rather than you telling everyone in the school"

"I would never do such a thing!" Blake snapped, "I know first-hand what it's like to keep a secret from friends, and I made the mistake of talking to others rather than address the issue head on." Blake cast a smile over her team-mates who each returned the smile. Cross nodded to himself.

"Thank you Blake, if you would be so kind and not tell anyone else about this, especially Ozpin"

"Why not Ozpin, does he not know about this?" Weiss asked.

"He does just not all the details. He knows I have another side but I told him that I have control of him if he should ever surface. The truth is I don't, I can refuse to let him take over, but should I ever allow him control over the body I would have no way to influence his actions or take back control for myself. Only he could allow that if he chooses to do so." Cross had never told anyone this before, it felt strangely liberating.

"So if you let him take charge you may never get back your body?" Yang asked. Cross nodded his response. Yang let out a low whistle, "No wonder you don't want to let him out, to be trapped in your own body? That's rough"

"Does he have a name?" the question came from Ruby, who was offering Cross a gentle smile.

Cross nodded, "His name is Arras"

"Do you…fight him for control?" came another question.

"No, it's purely symbiotic. I'm in control most of the time; Arras has control over intense combat or life and death situations. Though it wasn't always like this, for the longest time I would just black out whenever I got angry, only to wake up minutes or hours later, usually stood in the middle of carnage or a massacre, with witnesses claiming that it was me who was responsible despite the fact that I had no such memory of the events that transpired."

"So how did you finally solve the problem" Ruby asked. The girl was full of questions.

Cross told them of his time with the Rinetian warriors and how they helped him communicate with Arras, through discipline and self-control. They even taught Arras and him how to work together, and showed them that by working together, they were far more powerful than if they tried to go it alone.

"Eventually we worked out a routine" Cross continued, "Ever since then things have been getting better" He finished.

"I believe I read a book about someone like you" Blake looked thoughtful, "Yes, I believe it was the book I was reading when I was first met Yang" she smiled at Yang, who smiled back, "The book was about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over the body"

"What happened to him?" Cross asked.

Blake shook her head, "He was eventually driven mad, though he did sacrifice himself to save others"

Cross nodded slightly, "The warriors told me of others like me, people who couldn't handle it and were driven mad, others who were consumed by the other half and those whose mind simply stopped working. I guess that makes me one of the lucky ones" Cross chuckled to himself. "So? After hearing all this, what do you think?"

"Well" Ruby spoke, "You seem like a nice guy to me" she smiled.

"Right" Yang joined in, "And after the way you helped Velvet, you've got my seal of approval"

"Wait, what?" Weiss asked puzzled, "What happened with Velvet?"

"Oh, right" Yang told the girls of what she witnessed in the halls. After she finished they looked at Cross.

"You broke his leg?" Weiss exclaimed, "Well Nora is going to love you"

"I don't think many people would have done what you did" Blake said, "Thank you, I would gladly call you my friend."

Everyone now looked over at Weiss.

"You promise not to let this Arras character out?" she asked pointing her finger at Cross.

"Well I can't exactly promise that, but I will do my best"

"Hm, then I guess so" Weiss folded her arms.

"Yeah, that's about as close as a yes as you're going to get, I'd take it and leave it if I were you" Yang whispered to Cross, though still clearly audible for the others to hear her. Cross smiled at her.

Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing after all, here he was, in a room full of girls who knew about his dark secret, and yet despite this, they accepted him. No fear, or indignation, just acceptance. Cross tapped his scroll and saw that an hour had passed since he arrived.

"You lot wouldn't mind if I just nip out for some fresh air? Just need to clear my head a bit." Cross asked rising to his feet and stretching.

"No probs" replied Yang, "Besides we have classes soon anyway, we'll catch you later, right?"

"Of course" Cross replied turning to leave the room.

"Oh and Alex?" Cross turned back to Yang, "Your secret is safe with us" The girls all gave him a smile and a nod. Cross nodded his thanks and set out.

* * *

He walked out into the court yard and under the midday sun, soft puffy white clouds lazily moved across the baby blue sky, he took in a large breath and let the warm summer air fill his lungs, before breathing out, his body relaxing. He closed his eyes and looked up to the sky, feeling the warm rays of the sun of his face.

"A beautiful day isn't it" came a man's voice. Cross didn't react, keeping his face pointing towards the sun.

"I was wondering how long it would be before you came looking for me" Cross said lowering his face and turning to Ozpin, who was standing behind him, dressed in his usual attire with a mug in his right hand.

"I was wondering how you were finding Beacon?" Ozpin asked, taking a sip from his mug.

"It's a beautiful school. It's refreshing to know places like this exist. Spending so much time hunting Grimm in desolate wastelands you sort of forget about the beauty in this world"

Ozpin walked up next to him, "Made any friends?" he asked. Cross got the feeling that he already knew the answer but just wanted to hear it for himself. He doubted that anything happened in this school without him knowing.

Cross nodded, "I met the girls of team RWBY."

"A promising group of individuals, if I do say so myself." A hint of pride was in his voice, "Strong, smart,"

"And understanding" Cross interrupted. Ozpin looked at the young man, he chose not to ask what he meant by that. Ozpin nodded.

"Also a very peculiar thing happened earlier today" Ozpin began. He looked over at Cross who was staring across the campus, "It would seem that a pupil of mine was taken to the infirmary with a broken leg" Ozpin stared at Cross hoping to see a reaction on his face, however Cross' stare remained the same. "When we asked his friends what happened they all claimed that it was you who attacked them. Care to shed light on the matter?"

Cross looked at him, "Did they happen to say what they were doing when I supposedly attacked them?" he asked.

"They said they were talking to Miss Scarlatina"

"Who?" Cross asked, feigning ignorance. Ozpin merely smiled and sipped his mug.

"A young Faunus girl"

"And what did she have to say about all this?"

"It would appear that she has never seen you since the assembly, also some witnesses to this 'attack' say that you were never there. A strange thing wouldn't you agree?"

Cross merely stared off into the distance, "Sounds like you have quite the predicament there" he pointed out, "Sounds like these friends of his are lying"

"So it would seem," Ozpin agreed, "But then there's still the matter of the broken leg"

Cross shrugged, "Maybe he fell down the stairs?" Ozpin stared at him, taking another sip from his mug.

"Well then" Ozpin began; "It would seem that I must inform these stairs that it should refrain from injuring anymore of my students, even if they were bullying Miss Scarlatina" he smiled and walked back towards the school.

He really did know everything that happened at this school. Cross stared over the grounds, students were mingling, laughing, joking, or sat at the tables scattered about the grounds, scribbling in books and journals. Cross saw shuttle buses in the distance, ferrying student to and from the city of Vale

Today was an interesting day, who knows what the coming weeks might have in store for him.

* * *

**A/N I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.**

**The next chapter should be alot more action packed, definitely some awesome fight scenes coming up.**

**Plus I finally get to show off Alex' weapons (I'm a sucker for RWBY style weapons)**

**Anyway thanks a bunch for your time. Have a good life, Ciao :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N I can't believe it's been a month since my last chapter. Stupid real life getting in the way.**

**Anyway, here's a new chapter, so I hope you enjoy it.**

**Chapter 6: The Hunt**

When he awoke he was greeted with nothing but darkness. It was still early in the morning; dawn was still a few hours away and now was the perfect time for him to ease off some of the stress he had been feeling over his first week at Beacon.

He tossed his covers off himself and quickly sat up. He scanned around the dark room; his eyes would never adjust as there was no light. The drapes were drawn tightly closed to ensure that the moon light or the morning sun wouldn't be able to penetrate the shroud that he covered his room with. Alex preferred it that way.

He however didn't need any light to know exactly where to go, standing straight he took a few brisk paces forward. He kicked his foot outward and felt it hit the soft leather of a chair, bending down he grabbed hold of his outfit which was thrown over the back of it. Within moments he was fully dressed in his combat gear, swords and quivers secured to his back. He stretched for a moment to fully accustom him to the tight fitting gear.

With that, Arras set off.

He stepped out into Beacons main courtyard, void off life, everyone would be sleeping and he knew no-one would disturb him. He decided to take a few moments to enjoy his freedom. He very rarely got the chance to have control over the body, and the few chances he had were always in the heat of combat or moments before Alex was about to be seriously injured or killed. He never got the chance to just enjoy the freedom.

He stared up at the shattered moon, the cloudless sky allowed the moon to bathe everything in its wake in beautiful twilight. Everything had a sort of dark blue and grey tint to it. He pulled a large breath into his lungs and held it for a few moments before releasing his warm breath into the cold night. Arras always loved staring at the moon; it always made him feel calm and gave him the greatest sense of clarity. He was delighted when a little over a year ago Alex himself began taking time to observe the broken white orb.

Arras smiled softly to himself. That was the first time he noted the 'bleeding effect'. Arras was quick to notice that extreme emotions or desires from one soul would sometimes bleed over into the other half, without the other one knowing that what they were feeling or the desire they suddenly had wasn't even their own. The bleeding effect had happened numerous times, mainly from Arras to Alex since Alex was almost always in control. Most recently was when Alex broke that bully's leg. During the brief fight Arras wished that he would break that little shits leg and was rather pleased when Alex granted him his wish, he knew deep down such a brazen attack wasn't in Alex's nature, however Alex did have a temper and Arras assumed that Alex may have just thought his anger got the better of him rather than fulfilling one of Arras' desires.

It was a complicated and sometimes confusing trait that they shared, but then again, complicated and confusing traits were the story of their lives.

Feeling he had dawdled long enough Arras quickly set off towards the far north side of Beacon.

After a few minutes, and passing through a small patch of trees and dense brush, he arrived at a cliff with a sheer drop into the darkness below. Arras stepped up to the edge and stared down the hundred foot drop. Darkness was all he could see, however the darkness swayed gently in the wind and he knew he was looking at the foliage of the Emerald forest, the location of where he would begin his hunt. He took a few steps back and began walking along the edge of the cliff, the moons gentle twilight gleamed off of a series of small metal panels set into the floor, and Arras inspected them for a moment. He gently placed his foot on a panel and began to feel energy build up from within it, he chose to remove his foot but as he did the panel sprung up from the ground with a large thudding noise that echoed long and far into the still night.

Arras took a step back and swore under his breath, hoping no one heard that. He watched as the metal plate set itself back into the ground. It was some form of catapult, most likely used to launch students into the forest for trails or missions. Arras walked over to the edge of the cliff, judging by the noise the contraption made, using it was out of the question, instead jumping from the cliff and down into the forest was his best bet. Wasting no time he took a few paces back and sprinted towards the edge, leaping at the last moment, Arras plummeted fast towards the dark foliage below. The wind whipped violently passed his ears deafening him and he felt a slight feeling off nausea in the pit of his stomach as it turned at this unnatural feeling.

Arras pulled his legs up to his chest and quickly made a few signs with his left hand, waving it under his feet a soft blue glyph appeared and began to rapidly slow his decent. He passed through the leaves and branches of the trees that whipped at his body before the glyph halted him mere centimetres from the ground, the glyph vanished and Arras landed on the floor with the softest of thuds. He was crouched low to the ground and began quickly scanning his surroundings. Below the cover of the trees, the moon light was unable to penetrate through except for a few slivers of twilight here and there. Arras waited patiently for a few moments; his senses were becoming sharper by the second as he focused them on his environment. His eyes began to adjust to the darkness and he was able to make out the trunks of numerous trees, he began to notice the uneven ground, dozens of twigs and dry leaves littered the floor, movement would have to be slow and cautious if he was to move through undetected. The slightest noise would sound like a gunshot in the emptiness of the night. His ears picked up the slight sway and creaking of the trees as they danced softly in the wind but apart from that no other noise could be heard, if something was out there, it was staying just as quiet as Arras.

His eyes immediately darted to his right, he was sure he just spotted something dark moving quickly far beyond the trees, his eyes rapidly scanned the area hoping to catch a glimpse of it, his ears straining to hear the slightest noise that might give him an idea of where the creature was. Moments passed and still no luck, no movement, no sound; Arras breathed softly, false alarm. He stood slowly and began to move gingerly through the forest, he kept his focus between where his next step was and his surroundings. Arras was in dangerous territory now, relaxing or getting sloppy could very well be the end of him. His pace began to quicken through the forest as his eyes further adapted to the murky darkness, he was now able to make out gaps of dried dirt that were free of twigs or leaves.

After a few minutes Arras arrived at a large clearing in the forest, here the moon was unabated and it poured its soft grey light over the area. Blades of grass blew softly in the wind; the area was tranquil, almost serene in its beauty. A beautiful place, if not for all the monsters that would happily tear him limb from limb. Arras stepped out into the middle of the clearing, on all sides he was surround by the trees and the darkness they provided against the moons light.

"Here's a good a spot as any" he whispered softly to himself.

Standing in the center of the clearing he unsheathed his two blades; he stared down at his weapons. Both blades were identical, each just under a metre in length. The main thing you noticed were the handles, whilst most common blades were roughly one quarter handle, three quarters blades, his weapons were half and half in ratio. The handles were made of a fine bronze steel composite, wrapped tightly in dark green leather straps to add traction to his grip. The blades were slightly curved and were made out of a transparent metal alloy. The blades were incredibly light and well balanced; the man who forged them for Alex was an old friend of the family and assured him that no amount of use would ever dull the blades. Naturally Alex thought this was nonsense, however five years later and true to his word, they have never needed to be sharpened.

The man who forged them told him that his blades were a variant of an ancient weapon known as a Duan Da Dao and at Alex's request a few alterations were made, one of which was that the blades could be combined at the handles to form a large, two bladed staff.

Arras pushed the base of the handles together and gave them a slight twist, there was an audible click and Arras held the staff at his side, it roughly stood at the same height as him. The curves in the blades gave the staff the appearance of a long bow, as was the point, with the use of his aura he was able to create small glyph's that would launch his arrows, and the staff was used as a bow to allow him to aim. He marveled at his weapon, it had taken Alex the better part of three years to fully master the three combination weapon, and even then Arras was sure there was still much more for them to learn.

Arras held the staff out in front of him horizontally, perfectly balanced, he smiled at himself. He began by performing some practice manoeuvres, stepping forward he spun the staff either side of him, then he crouched low and swung the weapon over his head, switching his hands continuously to allow him to keep the staff in motion. He stepped back and spun the staff in front of him, over his head and ended with the weapon held behind his back. Spinning on the spot he brought the deadly weapon swinging in a wide arc around his side, he flawlessly detached the staff into two, one handed weapons. A few more series of swings, stabs, rolls and flips and Arras finished the flourish by plunging both blades into the soft ground.

He let go of the weapons and paced in a small circle around them, allowing the cold night air to fill his lungs after his brief warm up, satisfied he was ready, and he began to set up his lure.

Okay, so maybe lure isn't the right word.

"Hellooooo, I'm just a lonely human lost in this deep dark forest" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I sure hope there are no big bad monsters that might come and eat my delicious flesh!"

Satisfied that the entire forest heard his taunt, he went and retrieved his weapons.

His senses sharp, he drew a few more deep breaths, adrenaline surged through his body. He was beginning to feel nervous, not out of fear, but out of anticipation. Arras knew the overwhelming feeling of calm he always achieved during a life and death fight was almost here. He longed for that moment; it was the only time when Arras felt truly alive.

The sounds of heavy footfalls brought his attention to his right, then to his left. A dozen burning ember eyes surrounded him, sounds of growls and snarling filled the still night. The creatures waited in the darkness of the trees, only the eyes were visible and their hot breaths against the cool air, but judging by their numbers he already knew what he was facing, only one creature of Grimm dwelled in forests in such numbers, Beowolves.

Beowolves were large creatures covered in pitch black fur. They reminded Arras of the tales of werewolves he had heard on his travels, they stand on their hind legs, albeit with a slouch, with long muscular arms and legs. They also adorn the same white bone-like mask and red detailing that the Ursa wear. However, Beowolves are generally weak opponents to any skilled hunter/huntress, and so they overwhelm their target with sheer numbers. This was going to be a good fight.

Arras stood poised, his blades firmly held in his hands, if his experience held any weight the Alpha of the pack would attack first. Almost to punctuate his thought, three Beowolves emerged from the forest. Two of them were slightly larger than the average man, however it was the one in the middle that drew his attention, the creature was twice the size of the other two and its arms and legs were covered with white protruding spikes. It stared menacingly at Arras as it let out a deafening howl, the other creatures began to join in or snarl at Arras.

Arras however didn't flinch, he kept constant eye contact with the Alpha, and then it struck.

The creature dashed towards Arras at blinding speed, its large black paw adorned with sharp white claws swung at such an easy target. Arras waited for the last possible moment, when there was no way for the creature to halt its attack. He stepped back just a little and the swing missed by a hairs length, however the creature's momentum carried it forward still and was unable to dodge as Arras raised his right arm and plunged his blade clean through its neck. The menacing howl was caught in its throat as it slumped to the ground in front of Arras. Removing the blade, he brought it back down and it cut clean through the neck, the creature's head rolled off to the side. Arras stared as black ooze began to pour from the open wound, staining the grass and his boots. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. The stench burned his nostrils but he didn't care, he was experiencing euphoria, his first kill in a week. Arras smiled to himself and opened his eyes, there was still many more creatures to kill before the night was over.

The rest of the pack began to howl and snarl violently, they would not allow Arras to leave this forest alive. They began pouring out into the clearing, a barrage of teeth and claws came crashing down on him.

* * *

Blake watched silently from high in the trees, she had been tracking Alex carefully ever since he left the campus. Unable to sleep she had planned on heading over to the training room in the hopes of tiring her body out and forcing sleep upon herself. However her plans had changed once she spotted Alex stood in the court yard staring at the moon. She planned on speaking to him but he quickly took off, and she couldn't help but follow. She had thought she lost him through a small cluster of trees; however the sound of one of the launchers being activated allowed her to quickly locate him. She was surprised when she noticed his plan was to enter the Emerald forest, and quickly followed him over the edge of the cliff. She tried her best to land whilst making a minimum of noise; however she was sure she was spotted when Alex refused to move for a good few minutes; however he continued on into the forest, unaware that Blake followed him from high in the trees.

She now watched, perched on a branch high in the trees as he quickly dispatched the Alpha from a pack of Beowolves. He moved with such speed that Blake's eyes couldn't follow his attack, she was sure that he left his dodge too late and was about to intervene, however, the blink of an eye later, Alex had his blade through the creatures throat.

She now watched with a sense of awe as he felled creature after creature. They threw themselves at him, teeth and claws, all hoping to be the one to claim the kill. However Alex's blades moved with such speed that no attack could get through. One would lunge for a bite and its head would be flying through the air, another would swing with both claws only to find both arms severed and black blood flowing freely from the stumps. She tried her best to keep track of his arms and blades but it was impossible. One creature would attack from the right, and Alex would parry and deliver a killing blow, at the same time a creature would attack from the left yet somehow he would parry and vanquish it too. His arms would literally be in two places at once.

'_His semblance maybe? Maybe he has incredible speed like Ruby?' _she thought to herself, it was possible.

She watched as dozens of Beowolves turned to only a handful, his two blades became one long staff as he swung the deadly weapon around him and over his head, preventing any creature to get close without losing a limb or its life. The few remaining creatures refused to retreat, instead throwing themselves at the wall of blades Alex somehow maintained. His armour was stained black from blood and a horrid stench hung heavy in the air, the smell was especially putrid to Blake. She silently cursed her Faunus enhanced sense of smell.

Alex now had the last few creatures on the defensive, detaching his blades he lunged at one, rolling at the last second under the creatures attack, now positioned behind his kill, he drove his blade backwards into the Beowolves leg, the creatures howl was sickening. Removing the blade he cut the damaged limb clean off, the Grimm fell backwards to the ground and he drove his blade through its skull into the ground. One of the creatures attacked, hoping to catch Alex off guard, he flipped backwards, the attack missing its target. Now on his feet Alex countered, the creature swung again only for Alex to sidestep it, raising his weapon he removed the attacking limb, black blood sprayed from the wound like a geyser, with the same blade he drove it into the side of the creature's neck, driving his other blade into its skull. Blake noticed his fighting style, no flare or showboating, each attack was designed to end the fight as quickly as possible, removing limbs to prevent future attacks and to disorient his target, once successful he would go straight for the killing blow. This tactic made sense, for Alex had no team to plan attacks with or to back him up should he be bested. The longer the fight draws on for, the greater the chance of that happening.

Only two creatures remained, though both stood resolute, as if the fact that their foe had bested twenty of their allies made no difference. Alex paced side to side waiting for their strike. One of them bounded for Alex, its attack was reckless as it leapt with both claws, and he merely ducked under the attack, driving a blade into its spine. Not bothering to finish it off he quickly turned his sights to the second creature, it swung a heavy claw at Alex but he countered by plunging his blade into its palm, the creature howled and swung at him with its good arm, Alex quickly removed the limb with his other blade and then removed the stabbed limb as well. The creature stumbled back, staring at its new stumps, still snarling at its soon to be killer, Alex waited a few moments as if relishing in the tormented creatures pain, in the blink of an eye Alex raised both blades and severed its head from its torso. He nonchalantly walked over to the first creature, that was still howling and writhing in pain on the ground, its spinal injury preventing it from getting to its feet, Alex stood over it raising both blades high into the air before plunging them into the back of its neck. His breathing was heavy as he removed his weapon from the last creature, she silently watched as he surveyed the carnage before him. She couldn't quite see his face, which was also stained with blood, but he appeared to be smiling.

Was this his form of training? If so it seemed intense and needlessly risky. However Blake couldn't help but commend him on his performance. An entire pack of Beowolves dispatched and not a single one landed a hit. While not impossible it was still impressive. Deciding she had spied on him long enough, she silently dropped to the ground, and approached Alex from behind.

"I have to say I'm very impress-" her words caught in her throat as Alex turned to face her.

His features seemed somewhat distorted, the calm smile she saw moments before was gone now replaced with a grin. However it was his eyes that caused her to freeze.

They were blood red, not like Yang's when her temper flared and her lilac iris' would change to a deep red. No, his whole eye was red, pupil, iris, sclera, all a blood red. Add that to the grin and the blood stained face and he had the appearance of a demon. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"I'm sorry, were you expecting someone else?" His grin widened and he took a few steps towards her. Blake instinctively stepped back, her eyes never leaving his.

"Arras?" her words faltered as they left her mouth and her arm instinctively reached for her weapon.

"Bingo, bingo!" Arras spotted her hand reaching for her weapon behind her back. "Ah, ah, ah." He said waving his finger at Blake. "I wouldn't do that if I was you. Besides, do you really think you could draw your weapon before I slit your throat?" his wicked grin faded, replaced with a look of determination.

Blake hesitated for a moment, and almost jumped out of her skin when Arras began laughing hysterically.

"Alex really has gotten you all afraid of me. Well I can't expect anything different from him, he's always judged me harshly" his hysterics subsiding, instead resuming a calm demeanor.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked, her hand lowering from her weapon.

"Oh c'mon, I may have committed a few morally questionable acts but I'm hardly the monster Alex makes me out to be." Blake remembered the stories Alex told of his counterpart. The acts he committed and the innocents he sacrificed just to reach his target. Blake's stomach twisted at the thought of someone who could commit such vile acts, to kill innocents. Yet here she was, a few meters from such a person.

"He told us you've killed innocent people. Was he lying?" Blake questioned.

Arras adamantly shook his head, "Nope, he was telling the truth about that." He began to look thoughtful, "I believe 13 civilians so far." Blake looked astonished, not even the slightest hesitation or look of guilt in his eyes.

"13 innocent people?" she could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"There's no such thing as innocence Blakey, only degrees of guilt, and I feel no guilt for my actions" he spoke calmly.

"Then you are every bit the monster Alex made you out to be" she snapped hardly believing what she was hearing. Arras' eyes grew darker.

"A man who hunted and murdered young girls as some kind of sick blood sport was tracked to the city of Vacuo. It was later uncovered that his number of victims reached the thirties to forties estimate. Can you imagine that? All those lives lost because of one man's depraved actions? I tracked him to the lower quarter of the city" Arras spoke harshly as he pointed to himself. "I had him cornered. Then the asshole grabbed hold of some woman. He held a small blade to her throat" His features grew soft, and the appearance of a demon that Blake had so described him moments ago seemed to fade slightly. "He gave me a choice. Let him go and the woman lives, or try to attack and the woman dies." He paused, staring into Blake's amber eyes.

"What happened?" Blake asked, though a part of her already knew the answer.

"I weighed my options, he covered himself perfectly with her as a human shield, and there was no way I could reach her before he draws the knife across her neck. So…I killed them both" he pointed to his heart. "Arrow, through and through. Both died instantly. I couldn't let him go, not after everything he'd done, and I couldn't risk him attacking more women. Who knows how many more victims he'd have before he was caught or killed?" he stared at Blake, hoping to see her reaction, maybe she'd understand.

Blake shook her head, "You should have found another way"

Arras scoffed "You sound just like Alex, there was no other way, and it was the fastest solution."

"Then you lack patience!" she snapped at him

"And you lack conviction!" he retorted.

They both stared at each other menacingly, the stench of the dead Grimm was starting to get to Arras; he sighed and looked down at his clothes.

"As much as I enjoy this argument, would you mind if we continue it later, I need to clean up and shouting out here may not be for the best."

Blake seemed to relax, coming to the same conclusion as he did. She stared at the dead creatures, she did have other questions for him, maybe the walk back would provide her with the opportunity she needed. They both set off back towards Beacon, the journey was largely uneventful, both maintained silence as they made their way back, after climbing up a ridiculously precarious staircase carved into the side of the cliff, they reached the top where the launch panels were located. They both took a moment to recover pulling the cool night air into their lungs.

"So" Blake began, "Do you mind telling me how you have control of the body? Alex told us you can only do that if he gives you permission and I don't see him doing something like that."

Arras turned to her, "Can you keep a secret?"

Blake blinked in surprise, "You want me to keep one of your secrets?"

"You may not agree with my actions, hell, you may not even like me" Blake folded her arms across her chest and gave Arras a look that basically said, 'You think?' Arras continued however, "But you seem like a trustworthy person to me, I know you would never betray someone's trust, even if it is my trust." Blake unfolded her arms, and gave him a look that said, 'Alright, fine, what is it?'

"Sleep"

"Sleep?" she asked.

"When you enter a deep sleep your consciousness becomes suspended, when this happens I can take control and Alex will never know." He tapped his temple, "Right now his consciousness is sleeping like a baby"

"And Alex has no idea you're doing this?"

Arras shook his head "And he never will as long as you keep your mouth shut"

"But why do this?" she asked. Arras laughed at her question.

"Are you serious? Can you imagine being trapped in a body for most of your life, one that you have no control of? Never deciding what you do, where you go, what you eat? And you're asking me why do I take this opportunity to take control and blow off some steam?"

Blake shook her head, an obvious answer to a silly question.

Arras stared at the raven haired girl, the moon shone brightly and here on the edge of the cliff he finally noticed her outfit. She was wearing black low-heeled boots and stockings that started off black at her hips, but gradually faded to purple as they neared her shoes. She was wearing black ribbons on both of her arms, with a black detached sleeve and a silver band on her left arm.

She also wore a black buttoned vest with coattails, and a white, sleeveless undershirt that exposed part of her midriff. Arras couldn't help but drink in her milky white skin that was exposed, he thought of how it would feel beneath his fingertips. She was wearing white shorts although they were partly obscured by her vest. Her shorts had a zipper on the front of each leg; Arras wondered if the zippers served a purpose or were simply decorative. She also wore a detached scarf-like collar around her neck.

"Didn't anyone tell you that it's rude to stare" Arras immediately snapped out of his day dream and stared at Blake, her face had a look of disgust.

"Get over yourself, I was staring at your outfit, hardly practical." He pointed out.

"Heavy armour encumbers my movement; I need to be light on my feet. My speed and agility keep me from real harm."

"I don't know if you noticed back there Blakey, but I'm pretty fast" a sarky grin plastered his face.

Blake laughed softly to herself, a small sweet laugh, Arras had to fight the urge to smile, her laugh was infectious. "I'm sure you are" she turned and began walking back to Beacon. Arras stared at her quizzically.

"Wait, that's not what I meant!" finally catching on, and began chasing after her.

"So" he spoke as he caught up to her, "You're a cat with a sense of humor!" Blake glared at him from the corner of her eye. "That's good, that's very good" he continued, not noticing her glare. "Right, my turn to ask the question, why are you here?"

Blake looked at him suspiciously, "The same reason anyone is here, to train to become a hunter and help maintain peace"

"There are over a dozen Faunus training here and not one of them hide who they are, even if it means ridicule from other students. Why are you here?" he repeated.

Blake had now stopped walking and turned to face Arras. "Why do you think I'm here?"

Arras paused for a moment; he eyed her up and then began to look thoughtful. Minutes passed in silence while Arras worked out his thoughts.

"Right" he began, "Well you've come to Beacon, so I'm sensing a great urge to do right, hmm, maybe atone for some past sins perhaps?" Blake maintained her trademark stare, "You hide your Faunus heritage, which means you know of, or have been the subject of the human prejudice against Faunus, and you're avoiding it. Were you ever a part of the White Fang?" Same steady stare, though the slightest twitch was seen in her left eye at the mention of the White Fang. Arras beamed, "Right, so, you were once a member of the White Fang, you may have performed some questionable acts, not judging here, we're both guilty of that. However you grew tired of their methods or maybe they asked you to commit a crime you refused to be a part of, you left and now you have come to Beacon to do right." Arras shook his head, "I still don't see why you need to hide your ears though."

"I want people to see me for who I am, not what I am" a few moments passed in silence, "Did you really get all that from a few moments of thought?" she asked.

Arras shook his head, "In honesty, I've been thinking about it since you were first introduced to Alex. I just found it curious"

"Well I'm glad my story was able to entertain you" her tone had the hint of agitation.

"Look Blake, you're here training to help others, your heart is in the right place and your feet walk the right path. It doesn't matter what you were Blake, only what you will become." Arras' words struck a chord within Blake and she momentarily let a smile slip through.

"Anyway my clothes are really starting to reek" Blake nodded waving her hand trying to clear the smell, "So I'm gonna go wash up and hope Alex doesn't catch on."

"And I will keep your secret, a part of me still wishes you would talk to Alex about this but as long as he doesn't get hurt and these trips of yours benefit you, I see no harm" she added giving Arras a nod. He returned it and turned towards the western wing of the school. He paused momentarily before turning back to Blake.

"Hey, if I go out like this again, would you, umm, well, would you want to join me?" Arras found that sentence to be incredibly difficult to form, and he shook his head at his own fumbling's.

"You want me to join you?" Blake looked surprised, unsure what to make of this proposition.

"Yeah, it could be fun. We meet up, hunt a few Grimm, kill them, and then are back before sunrise. Whaddaya say?"

Blake pondered for a few moments, her body now felt exhausted and she could feel sleep calling her. This little trip had the desired effect she was after all along; she was sure now that she could finally get some sleep, something that had been eluding her most nights, maybe these trips could be to her benefit. "Alright, but how do we organize it?" Arras looked thoughtful, shaking his head after a few moments.

"I got nothing" a few more moments passed.

"How about.." Blake pondered, "When I see Alex and I say 'I can't wait for bed' that means that I'll be waiting here that night, as for times we just come here the second we get the chance."

Arras nodded, "Sounds good as any plan. I guess I'll see you" Arras hesitated for a moment, "Well I guess I'll talk to you soon. I imagine I'll be seeing you sooner." Blake gave a warm smile.

"Talk soon"

With that Arras headed back to his room.

* * *

**A/N I felt this chapter was necessary to give some disposition on Arras.**

**You guys been watching the new RWBY episodes? Man they are sooo fucking good.**

**Just gonna call it here in case it turns out to be true, (Stop reading if you don't want to spoil the rest of the story)**

**But the main plot here, is about Torchwick stealing all the dust to cause instability in Vale, as it turns out that dust supply is limited. Seeing as most vehicles and military gear operates on dust when supplies run low this will cause serious issues for the defense of Vale and Beacon, allowing Cinder to attack those in power. Yes later in my story Beacon will be attacked.**

**If the plot to RWBY follows the same pattern I so fucking called it. Anyway, Ciao :)**


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